Mr. Clean

Since Andrew was able to walk, he has proven that he received my OCD cleaning DNA. Often, I find him picking up a piece of dirt or crumb off the floor, he gets a towel to wipe up drops of water on the floor, he likes to swiffer and REALLY likes to vacuum!  Mom decided she would get him a play vacuum for his birthday or Christmas, but I guess she couldn't wait... he got it a little early!  He LOVES this thing!!!! Other than the brand name, it looks identical to our real vacuum. I am thankful he has his own, because now he doesn't want to use the real one and I can get the task done a little quicker!

Visit to Stephenville

Saturday we took a day trip to Stephenville, TX for Mindy's son's 7th birthday. It was Texas Rangers theme - of course we dressed the part!  Andrew slept the two hours there, played his little heart out with those big kids and then we went to Mindy's place for a couple hours before we headed home, where Andrew slept another hour.

It was so much fun, but then again we ALWAYS have a great time when we hang with the Henson's.

Mom and Me Weekend!

Josh went to Houston for the weekend to celebrate his Grandma and Dad's birthdays.  I thought it would be good for him to go alone so him and his dad could work on some projects around the house.

Meanwhile, Andrew and I spent the weekend with my mom.  It was her birthday earlier in the week and Dad was still in Paris. We did some shopping, crafting, playtime, oh and we took a walk in the rain.  It was a lot of fun! I didn't take any pictures though - sorry!

HFMD - 2, Andrew - 0

Thursday afternoon when I picked up Andrew from daycare, he had a fever. I noticed he had red bumps on his butt and feet... hmmmm this looks awfully familiar.  Hand Foot and Mouth Disease strikes again!

He couldn't go to daycare on Friday so we lounged at home and watched cartoons. Since it's a virus there is nothing you can do but give him pain reliever. Symptoms subsided on Sunday.

However, the story doesn't end there!  Saturday I woke up with crusty eyes. I haven't had that happen to me in years, but I didn't think much of it until later that afternoon my eyes got really red and they began to hurt.  I then put the symptoms together and realized I had pink eye!  I went to CareNow clinic that evening to get an antibiotic so I can start feeling better and hopefully limit the spread of the virus.  After speaking with the DR. about my week she said that Andrew's HFMD rarely affects adults, but they can still get it.  Well, when that happens apparently the virus can mutate or morph or whatever she called it and can become another virus. In my instance, Pink Eye!  I got my antibiotic and felt better within 24 hours.  Although the story doesn't end there either!!!!  Sunday I started to get a few tiny bumps on my toes.  I thought they were ant bites because I was outside barefoot.  Well, day after day I got a couple more and they felt like pins and needles stabbing my feet every time I walked. I realized I got the traditional symptom of HFMD too!  Yippee!  Then I realized how poorly Andrew must have felt because he had way more spots than me! 

Luckily it only lasts about four days, so we recovered quickly. Thankfully, Josh did not get our cooties!

Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue

Andrew celebrated his best friend's (Kameron) 2nd birthday, Toy Story theme. There was lots of fun, laughs, playtime, presents and cake.

Dallas Zoo

The Dallas Zoo was celebrating their 125th anniversary this weekend with $5 admission. Andrew has never been to a Zoo before and the weather was nice this weekend, not too hot. Andrew is very familiar with all the animals and what they "say"; I was so excited to see his reaction.  He didn't have too much of a reaction; he did a lot of pointing and an occasional really excited face or squeal when he saw an animal move - especially when a chimpanzee swung from a rope in his habitat.

Here are some pictures:

We arrived at the zoo around 9am and left at noon.  As we were exiting the zoo, we decided to sign up for a membership ($10 discount because they deducted our admission today).  Within three trips it will have paid for itself. We signed up for Family Plus plan to include a free guest for each visit.  Anyone want to go to the zoo with us?  Andrew can make all the animal noises in case you get confused at what you are looking at!

SATURDAY

 Andrew and I spent Friday night and Saturday at Mom and Dad's while Josh was on a quick road trip to Kansas City and back. He went to pick up a chiropractic table that belonged to his great uncle.  Orbie passed away earlier this year from prostate cancer.

 Here are some pictures from Saturday

Papa teaching A how to use his new T-Ball stand

Bubbles with Aunt Jackie

Enjoying a second breakfast (donut holes) with his best buddy, Kam

Mmmmm Coffee Froth

Knock, Knock, Who's there?

MIMI

Wrestling MIMI

Relaxing Weekend

We had a nice relaxing weekend at home.

Friday night and Saturday morning we did some tax free weekend shopping to build Andrew's fall/winter wardrobe. Saturday afternoon we headed to the Kuklenz pool for a play date with Kameron(Mimi and Poppi were in Houston visiting Uncle Carbon). The boys had lots of fun swimming together. Andrew even jumped into the pool without coaching (something he didn't do in swim class). Not sure where he got that idea... a little scary! He did learn to not jump in whenever he wants. Mommy or Daddy need to be there and count to three... oh and don't forget the clap. HA HA
It's a hard story to explain via text, but Andrew would wait for us to say "1, 2, 3," - most kids would jump now. But not Andrew! He waited for an additional two hand claps before we opened our arms wide open... then SPLASH! A couple times, we would count to three, but didn't do anything else. He would do an antsy bounce and clap his hands until we clapped. It was hilarious!

Shark Noodle: CHOMP CHOMP

Best Buddies

Sunday was filled with summer cleaning, grocery shopping and a special visit from Mimi and Poppi. They played for a few hours and enjoyed some fajitas for dinner. Andrew didn't want them to leave or go to bed!

Playing with Thomas and Friends

Where's Mimi? 

More Hide and Seek

 

Last Fling Before the Ring

The girls spent the past weekend in Montgomery, TX celebrating Audrey's upcoming wedding.

See mom's blog for the details.

Potty Training

Now that Summer has slowed down and we do not plan on having any more special guests, we decided to start potty training Andrew. We put on his new seat over the toilet and tested it out a few times on Sunday and Monday. Generally he would there a minute then stick his arms out after a minute like "All Done Mommy".
I knew this process might speed up if I could get him to recognize what peeing actually was. I figured I had better odds of that if we tried first thing in the morning. Today, as soon as I walked in his room, I said, "Good Morning, Do you want to go sit on the potty? He ran to the bathroom. Within seconds he tinkled in the potty... SUCCESS! He was very shocked; I could see the look on his face, it was like "What is happening"? We clapped and cheered.

I have heard it is harder to potty train boys and it usually takes longer, but I am trying to be optomistic. I'll keep you posted!

Special visit from cousin Brycelynn

Brycelynn, our oldest niece, stayed with us last week. She is ten years old and going into the fifth grade.  I was so excited to have her come stay with us and even more excited to do some special spoiling!  As the oldest of four kids it was nice to reward her with a few things and give her some one on one attention.

I worked most of the week, but took half day off on Monday and Thursday and Josh had Tuesday and Friday afternoons off. Monday afternoon we went shopping at Target and Kohls and then painted ceramics at Color Me Mine in Frisco.

 There was a lot of play time with Andrew in the evenings.

 

 

 

 We made angel food cake and homemade chocolate chip cookies while she was here. 

 When I was working, she was either watching Nickelodeon, singing at the top of her lungs, or playing Wii.

 Throughout the week Brycelynn was tie-dying a tote bag. It was a three day process, but here is the finished product.

Thursday afternoon we did some more shopping and went by Josh's clinic (I got a massage when I was there - BONUS). Before we knew it, Friday was here. Her family came to pick her up Friday evening. They arrived around 5pm, so we baked some pizzas and kids played until the James Family left around 8pm.

Blake, Bridgette, Andrew and Blain playing

 Andrew and Blain are seven months apart. They have lots of fun together... especially when Blain teaches him all sorts of new things.  Blain taught Andrew to stand and jump on his bed!  : /

 

Great picture snapped with Aunt Becca

 

The whole crew

Five Cousins

(The first and last picture I took of the five of them - can you believe it? It turned out GREAT)